Napster 2.0

Case Study Outline of Napster

1) Situational Analysis

a. Marketing Objectives

 To re-establish Napster as the market leader for online music downloading industry.

 To establish a competitive market share in the pay-for-play market.

 Regain the majority original customer base, and entice new users.

b. Target Market

 Anyone that has internet access and an interest in music.

 All ages, races, sexes, income levels, education levels and computer knowledge levels.

 Anyone with a minimal understanding of the internet.

c. Marketing Mix

 Product- Legal Music Downloads with the following benefits:

пÑ"ј Music Downloads (Legal rights to 500,000 songs)

пÑ"ј CD Burning

пÑ"ј View Music Videos

пÑ"ј Access Billboard Chart Information

пÑ"ј Synchronize music to other devices

пÑ"ј Message Boards

пÑ"ј Detailed Artist and Album information

пÑ"ј Parental Controls

пÑ"ј Powerful Recommendation Engine

пÑ"ј Personal Inboxes for Music and Messages*

пÑ"ј Ability to Browse Other Users Music Collections*

пÑ"ј Search Engines by Genre, Artist, Track Title, or Popularity

пÑ"ј Complimentary products such as digital recording media, CDs and MP3 players

пÑ"ј Ability to Send Music to Friends within or outside the service*

пÑ"ј Access to Professionally Programmed Radio Stations*

 Price-

пÑ"ј $.0.99/ song

пÑ"ј $9.95/ album

пÑ"ј Premium Service $9.95 (includes all (*) products above)

 Promotion-

пÑ"ј Promote through partnerships with Microsoft, Gateway, Yahoo and Samsung

пÑ"ј Partnerships with XM Satellite Radio, Tower Records in Japan, a marketing agreement with BellSouth Corp. of Atlanta

пÑ"ј Possible partnership to rollout with cell phones on LM Ericsson of Stockholm

 Placement-

пÑ"ј Gift cards are available at various retail stores throughout music areas as well as point of purchase

пÑ"ј Linked directly through Yahoo! by use of banners, search engines and e-mail

пÑ"ј Napster soft ware is preloaded on all Microsoft computers (they hold 80% of the operating system market)

пÑ"ј Samsung offers a digital audio player that is fully integrated with Napster 2.0

2) SWOT Analysis

Strengths

пЃ* Provides a legal alternative to music downloads

пЃ* Supporting the individual artist as well as the music industry through agreements with the 5 major recording labels

пЃ* Strong brand name rand reputation

пЃ* Alliances with industry leaders such as Gateway, Microsoft, Yahoo! & Samsung

Weaknesses

пЃ* Lack of a linkable device to transfer music to (i.e. iTunes has the iPod)

пЃ* Digital copies are not real copies

пЃ* Limited avenues for product differentiation

пЃ* Perception of “selling out” to the industry

Opportunities

пЃ* Massive market growth

пЃ* RIAA crackdown on illegal file sharing

Threats

пЃ* The availability of free downloads on various websites

пЃ* Advancements in technology

3) Decision Statement

Through a new advertising program, we hope to recapture our initial customer base and attract new customer’s in order to significantly increase our market share while acting in a legal manner.

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